Man stabbed to death in bungled Old Trafford shop robbery had been cleared of murder

Gary Mullings, 30, was part of a gang who stormed a florists in Old Trafford. He suffered fatal wounds during a frantic struggle. Shopkeeper Cecil Coley, 72, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. It is understood detectives are investigating whether earlier in the evening Mr Mullings’ father had been playing dominoes with Mr Coley at the shop.

A suspected armed robber stabbed to death in a botched raid was cleared of murder nine years ago.

Gary Mullings, 30, was part of a gang who stormed a florists in Old Trafford. He suffered fatal wounds during a frantic struggle. Shopkeeper Cecil Coley, 72, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

It is understood detectives are investigating whether earlier in the evening Mr Mullings’ father had been playing dominoes with Mr Coley at the shop.

We can reveal that Gary Mullings was acquitted in January 2002 of the murder of Alan Byron, aged 18, who was shot dead in a car in Longsight a year earlier. Another man was convicted and jailed for life.

The raid on the Shrewsbury Street store – which Mr Coley has run for 40 years – took place at 9.40pm on Tuesday. During the struggle, an 18-year-old man also suffered stab wounds and is being treated in hospital for his injuries. A handgun dropped by the raiders was recovered outside the shop.

As we revealed yesterday, neighbours raised the alarm after seeing Mr Mullings lying on the pavement.

He had been stabbed in the chest and was taken to Trafford General Hospital where he died a short time later. Mr Coley was also taken to hospital suffering from a suspected broken jaw sustained in the struggle. A second man, in his 60s, was taken to hospital but was later discharged.

Passer-by Lee Spiby, 30, told how he had tried to resuscitate Mr Mullings at the scene.

"I rang an ambulance and they talked me through how to do CPR for about 20 minutes before they arrived."

Mr Coley, known locally as ‘Pudding’, is a well-known figure in the local community.

We understand Mr Coley had retired from running the shop six weeks ago and handed it over to his children.

Neighbour Leon Richards, 33, said: "He is a quiet man, but a good man. He never caused anyone any trouble, he just got on with his business."

John Williams 42, who lives around the corner from the flower shop in Ayres Road, said: "He's a good guy. Everybody around here knows Pudding. I only knew him to say hello to but he was always smiling, really friendly to everyone.

"He'd just handed over the shop to his daughters but he was still always around and still very much a local character."

Neighbour Leon Patsalides said: "This is a quiet neighbourhood and that shop's been around for as long as I can remember. Everyone's so shocked and surprised and we just want to know what's going on and what's going to happen to Pudding."

Reverend Phil Rawlings of St Bride's Church in Shrewsbury Street said: "People are completely shocked and incidents like this go right again the grain of the local community.

"Old Trafford is such a nice quiet place to live now. Some time ago it did develop a bad reputation but in recent years people have worked really hard to make this a nice place to live."

Chief Supt Mark Roberts,said: "It soon became clear a number of males had fled the scene and one man was identified with stab wounds.

"A group of men had entered the shop but at this moment in time we won't speculate on exactly why. A 72-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder."